| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1522211 | Materials Chemistry and Physics | 2014 | 6 Pages |
•We presented simple treatments to increase the response of copper electrodes.•Copper electrodes were modified by electrocorrosion and electrodeposition.•Scanning Electron Microscopy images reveal the effects of the different treatments.•The response is enhanced by an area increase and/or intermediates concentration.•For each treatment the concentration range of the diffusion control is analyzed.
In this paper, we report a study of electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on copper electrodes subjected to different surface treatments, either electrocorrosion or electrodeposition in the absence of strong hydrogen co-deposition. The surface morphology of treated electrodes was examined by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The effect of different treatment conditions and the methanol concentration dependence were evaluated by cyclic voltammetric technique. The results indicate that the oxidation of methanol can be enhanced by a suitable micro and nano structure generated by these treatments. This enhanced electrode activity is related to an increase of the effective surface area and/or to an increase of the surface concentration of electroactive molecules or intermediates.
